Neighborly Hearts

"Spike", a hand-hewn reindeer
gifted to me by neighbors after
my Christmas display was
vandalized, is now a permanent
fixture on my front porch

Those who follow my blog know that I have been throwing an annual dinner party in celebration of Valentine's Day for several years now, a tradition begun when I grew frustrated over the crowded conditions and less than satisfactory food and service received at restaurants on and around February 14th. A chilly February evening seemed like a perfect time to offer my three-course all-fondue dinner. This year's weather did not disappoint. We had cold in spades in Baltimore County, Maryland, on February 10, the date I chose for my fête.

Thirty days before the party, I created pretty invitations and fastened the envelopes with sealing wax stamped with my initial. My guests of honor this year would be some of my wonderful neighbors, all of whom look out for me in so many ways throughout the year. Despite the fact that I could have issued invitations via email or phone, or by shouting over my back fence, written invitations sent through the mail seemed appropriate. And festive. And fancy! I wanted to let my neighbors know that they were in for something special.

My neighbors truly are remarkable people. Allen and Jackie across the street, for instance, never fail to prepare a fabulous home-smoked North Carolina-style pork roast each year for my annual summer potluck; Allen lets me borrow all his ice chests and even his pickup truck for the event so I can haul home dozens of six- and eight-foot tables which are stored off-site. Jackie has been my trusty pet-sitter for many years now. She does so much more than bring in my mail and feed my cats when I travel! No matter what calamity befalls the house while I'm gone, Jackie has always stepped up to handle it for me no matter how complicated or challenging the issue. In August 2012, when a derecho left my community without power for eight straight days just after I departed on a ten-day trip to Southern Ireland, Jackie hand-watered my 22 window boxes, hanging baskets, and herb and vegetable gardens every day in a desperate attempt to keep my plants alive in the summer swelter with no electricity to run my automatic drip system. During a two-week trip to Europe last July, Jackie enlisted her husband to get my well-pump working again when it suddenly failed for no apparent reason. And while I was in Dallas this past Christmas, Jackie fired up my shop-vac to pump water out of my unfinished basement when torrential rains overran my foundation. Her efforts to take excellent care of my home and my beloved animals clearly go way beyond the call of duty. My cats adore her, running to greet her whenever she comes to my door.

I decorated the mantel above the fireplace in my dining room
in spring flowers and red twinkle lights

Mike and Maria, who live next door to me, bring me fresh eggs whenever their hens lay too many. Mike fires up his snowblower after every major snowstorm, and before I even have a chance to shovel a path to my mailbox, he has carved out my entire 110-foot driveway, a parking pad for my car, and paths to my woodpile and tool shed. Maria always cheerfully lends me the use of her oven, washing machine or other appliance whenever one of my own ancient machines goes on the blink. And the homemade Argentinian empanadas she makes for my annual summer potluck are second to none. Despite bringing a bucketload each year (50!), they are gone within minutes. One year a guest actually exclaimed that he was coming to my party primarily for my neighbor's empanadas!

And Leroy and Michelle, who live on the other side of Mike and Maria, can't be beat when it comes to neighborliness. Leroy, a talented carpenter who has long been employed to build, maintain and remodel all the Hugo Boss stores in the mid-Atlantic region, somehow finds time to help me with my remodeling projects on evenings and weekends even when he is super busy. Leroy built my walk-in closet back in 2012. He just completed a major overhaul of my home office this week, and he has already agreed to build cabinets, bookshelves and a ventless fireplace in my living room  for my next project. Michelle is always ready with a caring gesture and a kind word. Last year, in the middle of my summer potluck when the motor seized up on my old ice cream maker, Michelle ran home to fetch her own ice cream maker for me to use, saving the day. She had been so inspired by my annual party ritual of making and serving homemade ice cream that she had gone out and purchased her own machine that spring. Now she brought it to me, still new in its box, so that my 120 guests would not have to go without their sweet summer treat. Michelle is also an extraordinary cook, bringing her homemade jerk chicken, Jamaican rice and peas, and other delicacies to my potluck each summer. I have the best neighbors in the world!

Valentine decor dangling from
the ceiling added to the mood

It seemed only fitting, then, that I pay these wonderful neighbors back for their supreme neighborliness and friendship over the years. It had been ages since I'd cooked a meal for them, so I thought it wholly appropriate that I dedicate my most complicated dinner party to the people who help me feel safe in my home every day, who make my life and travels worry-free, and who always seem to be looking out for me in ways large and small.

My checklist for the dinner party preparation was long. Every evening after work for the week leading up to the party, I ran errands and/or made something in furtherance of the dinner: creating place cards which would double as party favors for each guest, printing out a menu for each couple, complete with a list of sauces for the main course, decorating wooden fondue forks for the meat course with the name of each guest, choosing appetizers and selecting a festive punch to serve as my guests arrived, decorating my dining room in a Valentine theme, arranging a homemade centerpiece for the table from roses and baby's breath special-ordered from my favorite florist, Marty Hennigan, making sure all my candles, both real and electric, were in good working order, and dozens of other seemingly mundane but utterly necessary tasks to ensure an evening of ideal ambiance.

Faux fur rugs from IKEA drape each chair to add coziness to
the romantic winter tablescape in my dining room

I took the day off from work the Friday before my party, so intent was I to enjoy the process and not feel stressed by having to do all the cooking on the day of.  That was a wise move on my part. It made all the difference in how relaxed I was as my guests arrived Saturday evening.

In addition to the Gruyere and Emmentaler cheeses which would form the basis for my first course, a classic Swiss cheese fondue into which sourdough bread cubes would be dipped, I had ordered a special Vacherin fribourgeois from the Swiss Bakery, a cheese shop in Washington D.C. which imports the creamy Swiss specifically for Fonduephiles like me. I had assembled pretty pierced metal tins filled with chocolates, and topped the sweets with place cards naming each guest, which were tied to the tins with pink raffia. I had dressed my front porch reindeer, "Spike", in a red scarf with a heart-shaped "earring" dangling from one antler. I had assembled my playlist for the evening: romantic instrumental tunes which I hoped would enhance the mood of my revelers.

Belle de Brillet pear liqueur is the star
of this festive champagne punch

I had sliced wheels of orange navel and deep red blood oranges, bright chartreuse limes and sunny yellow lemons for a festive champagne punch enlivened with lemon juice, Belle de Brillet pear liqueur, cognac, triple sec, cinnamon simple syrup and champagne. I had assembled "green bean shots", an appetizer of shot glasses filled with Thai red curry sauce and barely blanched hericots verts. I had sliced and diced honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, banana and pineapple chunks, hulled strawberries, and arranged blackberries, kumquats, goldenberries, Mandarin oranges, Maraschino cherries and candied waternmelon rind for the dessert course, a decadent chocolate fondue flavored with Gran Marnier. And I had labored to prepare no less than five homemade dipping sauces for the main course of beef fondue, featuring cubes of the finest filet mignon to be dipped in a sugar-free barbecue sauce, a garlic-paprika aioli, a balsamic bleu cheese sauce, an onion-mustard sauce and a smoked paprika- horseradish sauce. I'd ironed napkins and set the table with flowers, candles, heart-shaped gems and other festive Valentine-themed "scatter". I was ready.

Special fondue plates from Switzerland contain shallow wells
to hold five different dipping sauces for the meat course 

Ascending to my dressing room on the day of the soiree, I thought about what to wear: black Studio M leggings with rhinestone-studded Roper cowboy boots would be chic and comfortable, and I'd top it with a pink, orange and black Alfani top from Macy's, which I'd pair with orangeish-red dangly earrings I affectionately refer to as my "fishing lures" that I've owned for at least four decades.

Each guest took home a tin
filled with chocolates

I don't think my neighbors quite knew what to expect when they rang my doorbell on the evening of my party. Indeed, Leroy, who had been working on my home office in the days leading up to the dinner, lamented the fact that he might have to "dress up". I assured him that jeans would be just fine. As each guest was given a flute of champagne punch upon arrival and a shot glass of green beans with Thai curry sauce,  I watched apprehension melt away and the relaxed rapport of longstanding friendships begin to reclaim the evening.

There were audible oohs and aahs as guests were called into the dining room for dinner and beheld my elaborate tablescape for the first tine. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace as my neighbors took their seats. I explained Swiss customs for the first course: pierce the bread chunks through the crust so you don't lose a cube of bread in the fondue (or you'll have to kiss the cook); take a sip of Kirschwasser (cherry liqueur) and follow it with a beer back.

Oil heated to 425°F cooks the
meat in a few seconds

Once the meat is cooked to a
diner's preference on a wooden
skewer, a dinner fork is used to
dip the steak in various sauces

As the cheese fondue course was finished and I cleared plates to make room for the meat course, I read trivia questions to my guests and invited them to answer queries I posed about the fictional St. Valentine and his jail-cell miracle which cured the blindness of his jailer's daughter.

My ceramic cheese fondue pots made way for metal pots filled with boiling oil. Metal fondue forks were replaced with wooden ones, far less apt to burn tender mouths from the heat of the oil. Special Swiss fondue plates with wells incorporated for the dipping sauces were placed in front of my guests, each filled with an assortment of sauces and chunks of raw filet mignon ready to be cooked to the diner's personal preference: 15 seconds in the sizzling oil for rare, 30 seconds for medium, 45 seconds for well-done.

Eleven kinds of fruit could be dipped in
chocolate fondue and then rolled in
crushed nuts

For this course, Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon and a dry Reisling were served. I encouraged each guest to declare which sauce was their favorite. It was evident that my neighbors were delighted to be engaging in such a new and interesting dining experience. There were no leftovers!

And then it was time for the dessert course: Gran Marnier-infused chocolate fondue with an assortment of fresh fruit for dipping. Each diner had a small bowl of chopped nuts in front of him or her in which to roll the chocolate-dipped fruit for added enhancement.  For this course I served a chocolate zinfandel as an aperitif. It was a good thing my guests could all walk home and no one had to drive.

I served a Maryland dessert
wine with the last course:
a chocolate zinfandel from St.
Michaels on the eastern shore

After dinner we all gathered
on my staircase for a group
photo

Candles glowed. The fireplace warmed. Conversation flowed. My guests were happy. I was relaxed.  Toward the end of the evening, Leroy confessed that he and Allen had been commiserating about having to attend a "boring dinner".  Leroy now announced that he had not been bored at all, but instead was really taken with the novelty of the theme and the warm ambiance created by his fellow diners. Michelle remarked how interesting it was to learn about my Swiss heritage and culture, just as I have been fascinated by the Jamaican customs shared when I attend parties at her house.

As we got up from the table, fully sated and ready for a good night's sleep, Maria suggested we all gather on my staircase for a group photo.  Cleaning up after my guests departed was an exercise in pure joy, as I recounted with warm affection the laughter and delight with which my guests partook of their experience. Another successful dinner party was under my belt, accompanied by warm memories of this neighborly gathering to last a lifetime.
Cheers,
Lynell
"In order to have good neighbors, we must be good neighbors. That applies in every field of human endeavor" ~ Benjamin Franklin